£65m ring road not working

[Cyclone 10]

The stop start might not be apreciated by some drivers who want to get from A to B as quickly as possible and sod everyone else wanting to use the road. I assume the lights allow traffic to merge on to the road or allow pedestrians to cross or holds traffic back so you don't get a lot of vehicles trying to use the same junction at the same time a bit further on. It is odd though that no-one wants to just accept the fact that a great many of our roads are reaching capacity and so in effect will at times resemble a car park, after all try driving on the N25 at times, it's horrible or look at the plans to convert hard shoulders into travel lanes I assume that is because the number of vehicles has and is increasing

 

Why would anybody accept it, when it's been demonstrated how the new IRR is slower than the old route it replaced? It's not that traffic volumes increased, it's that it's badly designed, and people aren't happy with that.

 

---------- Post added 04-02-2014 at 07:28 ----------

 

University square rounabout is busy for both motorists and pedestrians, the large number of crossings and lights causes traffic to backup on all the roads around that area.

 

It's clearly an area where alternative methods of pedestrian crossings need to be used.

A bridge or underpass to get rid of some of the lights would help quite alot - but they're not cheap

 

There used to be an underpass, they already dug the whole thing up for the tram, but underpasses aren't cool anymore, planners want vehicles and pedestrians to mix in lovely, fluffy, squishy, harmony.

[Agent Orange 11]

I'm trying hard to not get involved in this thread (these planning related threads suck the life out of me) but in all honesty, and genuinely without intending anything other than curiosty, what do you mean by 'alternative crossing methods'?

 

The university has buildings flanking that road so maybe a bridge or some sort could have been incorporated into the design, connecting both buildings and removing the bulk of students from the road below.

 

As for the rest, I am sure the road could easily be redesigned so there are not so many lights. That's the cheap option

[Eater Sundae 12]

I regularly use Penistone Rd, travelling Northbound in the morning, and back in the evening, and find it hard to see which traffic lights could be removed.

 

At present, I travel out at around 7:30 am. It is beginning to get busy, and I am stopped by a lot of the lights. However, a few years ago I used to do the same journey at around 5:30 am. At the earlier time, traffic lights were much less of a problem. I could regularly drive from the University roundabout to Grenoside, sticking to the speed limit, and only be stopped by 3 or 4 of the sets of lights at the most. On one occasion I recall getting from the University to as far as Fox Hill Rd without being stopped by any lights. (I was being a bit anal at the time, counting the red lights, following comments I'd read on this very forum)

 

I put the difference down to the amount of traffic. I don't see it as an ihnerent problem due to traffic lights.

[vincentb 10]

It's not that traffic volumes increased

 

Are you sure about that? What normally happens is that when a nice big shiny new road gets built, the traffic volume does go up as people are attracted to use it.

Edited February 4, 2014 by vincentb
fix formatting tags

[geared 317]

As for the rest, I am sure the road could easily be redesigned so there are not so many lights. That's the cheap option

 

Thats probably the only option to be fair, and it's quite correct.

 

There are what, 4 pedestrian crossings at the University Tram stop it's just stupid.

They're so close together you can almost jump from one crossing to the next, with a decent redesign you can cut that number down.

[WalkleyIan 10]

The university has buildings flanking that road so maybe a bridge or some sort could have been incorporated into the design, connecting both buildings and removing the bulk of students from the road below.

 

As for the rest, I am sure the road could easily be redesigned so there are not so many lights. That's the cheap option

 

 

There was a plan for a bridge over the ring road incorporated in the initial design for the Information Commons to link it to the new Jessop build but that part was dropped due to cost. The pedestrian crossings all round the island,especially the ones at the bottom of Brook Hill near the University Arms are operating way above their designed capacity already.

[maggidee 10]

gleadless town end lights with the little india on your left let about 4 cars thro at rush hour so tail backs every night

[barleycorn 10]

The signals on Penistone rd as a joke , Even when the road is empty you are still stopped at every single set of lights.

 

I regularly use Penistone Rd, travelling Northbound in the morning, and back in the evening, and find it hard to see which traffic lights could be removed.

 

At present, I travel out at around 7:30 am. It is beginning to get busy, and I am stopped by a lot of the lights. However, a few years ago I used to do the same journey at around 5:30 am. At the earlier time, traffic lights were much less of a problem. I could regularly drive from the University roundabout to Grenoside, sticking to the speed limit, and only be stopped by 3 or 4 of the sets of lights at the most. On one occasion I recall getting from the University to as far as Fox Hill Rd without being stopped by any lights. (I was being a bit anal at the time, counting the red lights, following comments I'd read on this very forum)

 

I put the difference down to the amount of traffic. I don't see it as an ihnerent problem due to traffic lights.

 

You can still get from Brook Hill roaundabout to Leppings Lane roundabout if you time it right, not every time but a fair percentage (and it has to be quiet, obviously). You need to be going through the lights on Netherthorpe Road at the junction with Meadow St about 5-10 seconds after they change to green at around 35mph (By GPS, not your speedo). By maintaining your speed at 35mph and meeting minimal/no traffic as you go the lights will change to green on your approach. Stick to the speed limit and you'll fall behind the green wave, go to fast and you'll get ahead of it and have to slow/stop.

 

jb

[Planner1 438]

gleadless town end lights with the little india on your left let about 4 cars thro at rush hour so tail backs every night

 

That's because if they gave more time to that approach (ie the minor road) it would cause massively extended queues on the main road, which is the Ring Road, which is carrying a huge amount more traffic than Gleadless Rd.

[geared 317]

You can still get from Brook Hill roaundabout to Leppings Lane roundabout if you time it right, not every time but a fair percentage (and it has to be quiet, obviously). You need to be going through the lights on Netherthorpe Road at the junction with Meadow St about 5-10 seconds after they change to green at around 35mph (By GPS, not your speedo). By maintaining your speed at 35mph and meeting minimal/no traffic as you go the lights will change to green on your approach.b

 

Speed limit there is 30mph, if you have to speed to catch the 'green wave' then something is wrong.

The problem on Penistone Road is excessive numbers of traffic lights and poor planning.

 

Some junctions should just be give way, some should have been a roundabout (Morissons) when they were installed.

Edited February 4, 2014 by geared

[Eater Sundae 12]

Speed limit there is 30mph, if you have to speed to catch the 'green wave' then something is wrong.

The problem on Penistone Road is excessive numbers of traffic lights and poor planning.

 

Some junctions should just be give way, some should have been a roundabout (Morissons) when they were installed.

 

Are the lights actually connected?

[Burnsie 10]

I have a really big issue with the ring road up near the university, there must be at least 4 pelican crossings within a 200 metre stretch of road, not to mention the roundabout. Now, I understand there are a lot of pedestrians in that area what with the university and tramstop, however I feel alternative crossing methods should have been incorporated into the design of this specific section.

 

how about, instead of having a crossing on both ends of the tram stop (a mere, what 15m apart) why not just have one in the middle of the stop? The amount of times I've got stuck between the two set of lights, then they went to green but the one at the junction (with West St) went red, so nothing moved, only for the crossings to go to red again once the junction lights went green!